To repel water and inhibit wicking, U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,682 discloses yarn for heat stable fabrics which is coated with a perfluorinated polymer such as a perfluoroalkyl acrylic or methacrylic copolymer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,140 discloses oil- and water-repellent coatings for textile fabrics including copolymers of selected fluoroalkyl acrylate monomers, vinylidene chloride and alkyl acrylates or alkyl methacrylates.
To resist flame spread and smoke evolution, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,605,818 and 4,781,433 disclose plenum cables having heat resistant woven glass fiber tape which is impregnated with a fluorocarbon resin material such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,060 discloses a flame and smoke resistant optical fiber cable having a woven glass fiber tape which is impregnated with mica, silicone and a fluoropolymer material such as PTFE.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,326,094, 4,815,813, 4,867,526, 5,082,719, 5,131,064 and 5,146,046 disclose communications cables which include a water blockable yarn, strip or tape extending along the cable which is treated with a superabsorbent material which swells upon contact with water and inhibits movement of water within the cable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,100 discloses a communications cable including such a water blockable tape or yarn and a hydrophobic water repelling material, such as a styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymer, filling voids or interstices remaining in the core.
In optical fiber cable reinforcement applications, water entering the cable assembly can corrode and/or crush the optical fibers by expansion due to freezing temperatures. It is desirable to provide a telecommunications cable assembly in which the reinforcing fibers are coated to inhibit water penetration and migration throughout the cable assembly and withstand the rigorous environment to which such reinforcements are subjected. Coated strands which resist hydrolysis in thermoplastic composites are also desirable.